Weed.

Played a live tournament yesterday, 3/126, got AAs a bunch of times, felt nothing.
Actually had a little of fun when it went all-in preflop vs villain's AKo and the board was QQQJQ for the split.
Long story short, calm down it's a f* card game.

Xanax will calm you down but it is a terrible poker tool. I find minimal amounts of weed to work much more effectively

OP, I get these feeling too - heart pounding out of my chest from nonsensical poker situations, overthinking situations in life, avoiding calling people, etc.

Each situation gets better by simply doing it more and more often. I find with live poker, if I haven't played in a while my first few times betting my heart will pound like crazy. Just last night it happened on my first hand that I bet $15 preflop. Later in the session I shoved all in for $300 on a draw and got snap called but I was more calm!

+1 for mediation/yoga. I like the headspace app - some of the meditations are focused on reducing social anxiety situations.

xanax does remove fear but in a bad way probably.
you could feel the opposite and do stupid plays


best thing is to deal with your emotions.
relying on drugs is not good.

also it really doesn''t matter. People dont know you so they can''t even properly read u, if ur anxious all the time

GABA it's super cheap on Amazon, but i guess it isn't a drug more of a supplement

First, you have to find out if you really have anxiety and panic attacks, or you just get nervous a little more than you should before the game. Because Xanax is a prescription drug that can cause addiction. Addiction Resource says that a popular medically supported alternative to snorting Xanax is eating it.. According to the US National Library Of Medicine, Xanax may also be taken sublingually, as well as in the form of a liquid that is swallowed similarly to the tablet form. So you should be careful before use it.

I have the same issue. While you claim that BR isnt an issue you referenced microstakes as your example. If you are playing microstakes BR is always an issue, otherwise you'd be ballin out of control at higher stakes right? The only thing that truly helps me is pure desensitization through high volume of play. If I'm playing live then after about 4 hours I get numb to it. Online takes about half the time due to more hands. Sometimes I drink when I play and that also helps but not worth the loss of judgement. Certainly makes it more fun though.

The problem with using drugs in the sense of poker is that they very often act as a double edged sword. Yes, they may calm you down, but they may calm you down to such a degree that you don't even care about the decisions you are making and have trouble focusing. I'd probably suggest something a little weaker like L-theanine but even that can have it's side effects. Overall I agree with some of the above posts that you really need to just get used to it, being nervous isn't exactly a bad thing you just need to make sure it doesn't control you.

Although I'm not opposed to drugs at all, and do several kinds recreationally all the time, I'wouldn't think about using anything while "on the job" not even alcohol.
I'm pretty easily distracted, and have thought about smoking a blunt before playing poker, but that just makes me miss every single clue about what's going on at the table.
You just need to find things that make you less distracted (or in your case anxious).

The only reason i see for being anxious is that you actually are feeling like you're playing scared money even if you think you're not.
If you're totally oblivious to the meaning of money no poker situation should make you have a minor heart attack.

So I guess my advice is, train your zero ****s given skills.

While it's true I may miss clues, since we're talking live here I find just a basic understanding of relative hand strength is often enough, and a little liquid courage can really help maximize your EV by raising those NFD's, bluffing them off their weak donkbets and not being afraid to value bet the river. Personally I am much more likely to be overly timid in these areas than noticing whether or not he has a prefold tell or if his hands are shaking because he has the nuts.

I have a history of anxiety, depression and have had panic attacks since I was a child, what you are feeling is normal you just need to play more to desensitize yourself to the situation.

Drugs is the worst option and will make your anxiety worse long term, if you nee drugs to play then you will have to take them every time you play and your problem will still always be there under the drug.

I was more talking along the way of what kind of opponents they are and what hands they play rather than incidental tells and other unquantifiable things.
If I'm stoned I can barely tell if someones good or just an over agressive fish, let alone being able to tell if I myself am the actual fish :P.

Also what kenny says, taking drugs to combat some immediate problem is a pretty sure way into a substance addiction.

Oh yeah, in that case just a couple of showdowns is all I take to label them fish or not. If they get there with 74o or Q2s then fish, any reasonable connector or suited hand then "not fish".

Bumping this thread because I have stumbled upon the holy grail for me on this issue. I'm a microstakes crusher who's moving up to small stakes now. Typing this all out makes me realize that this is also how big losers in gambling think, but here's how to look at it if you have this issue with a proven winning track record.

The trick is not to interpret the emotions you feel during big hands as a bad thing. They are a GOOD thing, be thankful you get to experience it doing something you enjoy because that excitement is what being alive is about. Don't put this unnecessary pressure on yourself to stay calm. And instead of saying "oh ****!" during a big hand, think "oh wow!". Be grateful you're feeling these emotions because once you've become desensitized to it, it'll be gone forever and you'll miss it.

If you're a winning player, poker is a chance to improve your life. Think of the potential rewards there are rather than the potential losses. By changing your mindset to want the positive things from your actions and opportunities, rather than thinking trying to stay away from the negative, most of the fear SHOULD turn into excitement. You can't be thinking about, "oh i better protect my ego." because then you'll start being scared of losing. You should be thinking "oh this game I'm in right now is a chance for a great result."

Last thing is to lower the requirements for success in a session. Ideally, playing your best (really, playing at all) is all that's required for it to be a good session. Because even if you lose, you should feel good for trying and you'll probably learn something helps in the future. Again, make not playing or playing the way you know you should be the disaster. With that said still practice good bankroll management, have a stop loss, time limit, play your A-game, etc.

Hope this helps.

Microdose Psilocybin Mushrooms

The secret is to just keep playing, eventually the anxiety fades. It helps not to feel ashamed about it and get all macho and be like "i'm a man and can take anything". Trust me the feeling is just an projection of self doubt and will fade when you stop setting such big expectations about your place in the group.

Valium really works but you will have to take it forever and it took me 5 years to get of Benzo's and it was hell.

I have essential tremor, this means in any situation that requires concentration, my hands can shake a bit. This makes taking clear photos very difficult at times because the phone or camera will sometimes have a subtle shake to them.

So, whenever I'm playing a big pot, this always going into high gear and my hands will tremble as I move chips. A lot of people would read this as me having the nuts. Since I often had the nuts when committing to a very big pot, this tell was unfortunately quite accurate.

I found taking a valium before play removes it and doesn't impact my play. If no valium is available then i just be sure to drink modestly at the table - 2-3 beers over the course of a few hours won't impair my thinking but does stop the hand shakes.

I've also tried xanax, that makes me play horribly, clouds my judgement and when I look at my phone the next day will see all these messages I sent out on tinder that aren't even English and can't even imagine what I was trying to say.

Don't mix xanax and poker.

Weed also great, I used to smoke it daily, my old nickname was the smoking gun because I'd always use my chillum as a card protector and smoke heavily at the private games. I hate smoking pot now, if I get high I just regret it until it finally goes away.

I wish I could put into words how bad a Benzo addiction is, its basically like being a heroin addict but the withdrawal is more like alcohol when you miss a dose you can't function as a human. You basically will never be the same again and its frightening. You can lose years of your life to these drugs.

Yes, I should have clarified that if you're playing every day then taking a Valium probably not the best idea.

I agree that working on breathing is probably your best bet.

I’ve had issues in the past where I get super anxious during live poker tournaments so much so I wanted to stop playing them. I would say I have social anxiety and hate being the center of any social interaction with friends / scared to death of public speaking so much so I found skipping college classes more enjoyable vs going and then potential to speak publicly.

For a while, I would tend to drink a few shots during mtts however learned quite quick this is very stupid and not even close to being helpful in terms of making money/ success. In the past year to two, the most I would drink at a poker table is maybe 1-2 beers. Drinking is a crutch and not a way to try to solve a problem such as anxiety or performance anxiety.

I would recommend working on breathing (slow down and focus on breathing in tense situations) and just play more. The more you play, it becomes comfortable. I like to listen to music in noise cancelling headphones when I play as to not have to interact with other players if I don’t want to. I find music helps combat anxiety very slightly also.

I tend to get anxiety with big hands such as AA mainly bc I’m scared to go busto in an mtt stupidly which has happened to me in the past. I honestly find shortstack play much less anxious bc decisions are pretty simple I feel. When stacks are deep, I personally wig out over decisions bc I never want to punt a big stack/ lose 1/2 of my stack in a pointless scenario where winning the pot honestly isnt going to win the tourny but losing a big pot can lose the tourny for hero.

I guess my only advice is try to avoid drugs if possible. Maybe try to get a beta blocker prescribed by a dr. Funny story; I told my doctor I wanted a beta for poker purposes and he looked at me kinda funny. I had it prescribed before when seeing a shrink and this was after so I had to tell my doctor I was super anxious at work etc for him to give me a script. I found it kinda odd he wouldn’t for poker but yea idk.


Btw to other posters in thread: I never get how people smoke weed and play poker. I probably have mental health issues but the few times I’ve smoked (say in college and just with friends), I get super paranoid and feel like I will die / just freak the **** out. If this happened to me in a poker tournament, it would probably be hilarious for other poker players honestly.

You're definitely in the minority.

If you're living in a country where it's legal then you can go to a dispensary and literally explain exactly what you're looking for and explain this condition and they will get you the strain that they believe has the perfect balance for you.

The other option is attempt hash, hash is much, much milder, sort of just gives everything a more relaxed feeling to it.

I don't smoke anymore, if I do now, all I think about is "I hate being high, why did I smoke again" until it goes away. Used to smoke every day, not sure what happened but one day I just stopped liking it.

This is the best advice, IMO, if you can focus on the concept vs. the example. Everything we do in life comes with risks and we always have to evaluate if the risk is worth the reward. In your situation, the reward isn't worth much risk at all.

if you need xanax to play poker you shouldn't be playing poker. Trust me, stay away from xanax, or any benzo for that matter.

As OP says these feelings extend beyond the poker table, I think he should seek professional help.

As to taking drugs just at the poker table, I think it is a bad idea as poker is a game of observation and drug usage could dull that.

It is -EV.